Review: Pizza Punks Collection

Pizza Punks Collection

Cole Pauls, Conundrum Press, conundrumpress.com, $15

As someone who grew up as both a lover of pizza and punk music, I found myself surprised by all the different ways punks and pizza mix as shown in the Pizza Punks Collection. There is Rat Pizza, Pizza Sleeve, Tipsy Zaa, TV Toppings, Naked Zaa, Sip N’ Slice just to name a few. Each of these creative ways to consume pizza come with their own comic strip to illustrate to us, the reader, what exactly each variation includes. 

Pizza Punks Collection is exactly as it sounds, a collection of comics from the Pizza Punk zine throughout the years. Along with fun comics, it also has reasonable advice sprinkled through. For example, “Remember to eat at least one slice of pizza a day.” 

This is written below a mohawked punk with a pizza in hand — possibly a take on the well-known Uncle Sam army recruitment ads. 

Cole Pauls’ collection is a fun, carefree way to spend an hour. As well it is a great way to explore creative evolution as this anthology spans over several years. You can see the illustrations becoming cleaner over time, the stories getting longer and even guest artists taking a stab at exploring art punks as a concept. This collection doesn’t take itself seriously and that feels like something that should be cherished these days.